NORTH PETHERTON

The large parish of North Petherton (fn. 1) lies between the river Parrett, from which it takes its
name, (fn. 2) and the lower slopes of the Quantocks.
It measures 10 km. from east to west at its widest
point, and 7km. from north to south. It contains
the large village of North Petherton, with North
Newton village 1.5 km. to the south-east and
Moorland or Northmoor Green 3 km. to the
east. There are c. 14 other hamlets, of which
Huntworth, 2 km. north-east, and Woolmersdon
0.5 km. north-west are the largest, and several
farmsteads besides scattered houses and cottages. In 1886 land in the south and east was
transferred to Lyng and Weston Zoyland leaving
10,484 a. (fn. 3) In 1933 St. Michaelchurch civil
parish (46 a.) and 247 a. of Bridgwater Without
civil parish were added, while 194 a. were transferred to Bridgwater Without. (fn. 4) In 1981, following minor changes in 1952, the civil parish
measured 4,275 ha. (10,563 a.). (fn. 5)

The north-eastern boundary of the parish
probably followed the Parrett's eastern branch,
abandoned apparently in the 16th century for
the western branch, leaving land beyond Moorland isolated across the river. Similar but smaller
areas, such as Old River Ground, (fn. 6) were the
result of deliberate straightening. The southeastern boundary follows the probable earlier
course of the river Tone, which was diverted in
1374-5. (fn. 7) The whole alluvial area is occupied by
moor land known as Hay moor to the north,
Little moor and Horlake moor around Moorland, and North moor in the south. The eastern
third of the parish lies below the 15-m. contour
on alluvium, with an 'island' of Burtle Beds
occupied by the hamlet of Moorland, a small
area of peat near Northmoor Corner, and beside
the river some clay, used in brick and tile
manufacture. (fn. 8)

Most of the remainder of the parish, rising
from 15 m. to 46 m., is on Keuper marl and river
deposits giving way further west to sandstone,
with alluvium in the extreme north at Stock
moor. (fn. 9) Quarrying took place at several sites, (fn. 10)
and there is some evidence of lime burning near
Shearston, south of Maunsel, and on the road
from North Petherton to North Newton. (fn. 11) In
the west, where the land rises steeply from 46
m. to 183 m. on the Quantocks, the parish
occupies a ridge of Morte slates which falls
steeply at King's Cliff to the stream which there
forms the parish's northern boundary. Quarrying at King's Cliff had begun by the 14th
century when a Langport slater worked there. (fn. 12)
The quarry was regularly used in the 18th (fn. 13) and
19th centuries, (fn. 14) and gravel and sand were also
extracted in the area in the 1960s. (fn. 15)

The principal route through the parish joined
Bridgwater to Taunton. It entered the parish at
Reed Bridge and crossed Stock moor by a
causeway, created by 1603 and probably by
1502. (fn. 16) Until c. 1821 the road followed a tortuous
route through North Petherton village. (fn. 17) From
the village the main route to Taunton led via
Farringdon and Shearston to Thurloxton, (fn. 18) but
the present line was adopted by 1730 when it
was turnpiked. (fn. 19) A second important route ran
by the early 17th century along the Parrett bank
linking Huntworth with Northmoor Green and
Burrow Bridge. (fn. 20) The general direction of the
Bridgwater-Taunton road was followed further
south by the M5 motorway, opened in 1975.

A similar route, following the 15-m. contour,
was taken by the Bridgwater and Taunton canal,
opened in 1827. (fn. 21) From a basin beside the
Parrett north of Huntworth it crossed the parish
through four locks. (fn. 22) Cottages and stables were
built around the basin, and several other cottages
near Huntworth beside the canal. In 1841 the
basin was abandoned and filled in when the
canal was extended into Bridgwater. The Bristol-Exeter railway between Bridgwater and
Taunton entered the parish where it crossed the
Parrett by Somerset Bridge and followed the
canal route. The stone bridge, designed by I. K.
Brunel, was replaced before the line was opened
in 1844 by a laminated timber structure on stone
abutments which was in turn replaced in 1904
by a steel girder structure. (fn. 23) The bridge gave its
name to a settlement which spread between
canal and river around the brickyards and later
included a school and a chapel. (fn. 24)

Evidence of mesolithic occupation has been
found near North Newton and of Romano-British settlement at two sites near North Newton
and one near West Newton. (fn. 25) North Petherton
village, apparently established no earlier than the
10th century, (fn. 26) was probably the main focus of
settlement in 1066 as the site of a minster
church. (fn. 27) A second, pre-Conquest focus may
have been St. Michaelchurch, by 1066 independent. In relation to St. Michaelchurch,
North and West Newton were so named by the
late 14th century, and Tuckerton was called
Tokar Newton in the 13th century. (fn. 28) Other
pre-Conquest holdings were at Melcombe,
Shearston, and Shovel, which may have been
single farmsteads in the Quantock foothills in
the west; Hadworthy and Woolmersdon were
farmsteads on the edge of moorland in the north;
and Huntworth, perhaps in a woodland clearing,
occupied a site just above the flood level of the
Parrett in the north-east. (fn. 29) By the late 13th
century more sites had been occupied around
the margins of Stock moor in the north (fn. 30) and on
the northern edges of North moor in the south
and east, including settlements at Bankland and
Primmore. (fn. 31) Farms had also been established by
then on marginal land in the Quantocks. (fn. 32) Some
of these sites, including the Domesday settlement at Hadworthy and the hamlets of
Ballcombe and Ernesham, probably shrank in
the 16th and 17th centuries. (fn. 33)

In contrast Moorland had spread by the early
17th century from the gravel 'island' beside the
Parrett along the river bank north and south
towards Huntworth and Burrow Bridge, and
along the droves into the moor. Moorland House
or Court, which retains at its south end the plan
of a 17th-century three-roomed house, was extended northwards and westwards in the 18th
century and it was largely refitted, extended
further northwards, reroofed, refenestrated, and
cased in red brick in the 19th century.

Huntworth became a nucleated hamlet containing several large 18th-century houses besides
Huntworth House and Huntworth Park House.
Huntworth House contains part of an older
building at the south-west end which was remodelled and extended north-east and provided
with a new staircase and drawing room c. 1830.
Huntworth Park House was built in the mid
17th century but was greatly enlarged and altered in the 18th and 19th centuries. (fn. 34)
Woolmersdon has houses dating from the 15th (fn. 35)
to the 20th century, all of which lie away from
the road except the 17th-century Orchard House
and Woolmersdon House, built in the 1840s.
Shearston is a scattered settlement mainly of
18th- and 19th- century houses. Chadmead,
later Northmoor Corner, was an established
squatter settlement by the late 18th century; (fn. 36)
most of the houses appear to date from the 19th
century but there are two older farmhouses
towards North Newton called Coxhill and
Turners, one of which is medieval, the other
of the 17th century. (fn. 37) Bankland, further south
and apparently more isolated, is on ground
drained earlier, for of its two farmsteads one,
Bankland Farm, is probably of the 16th century.

North Newton village appears to lie on a route
from Clavelshay and the Quantocks to Petherton
park. The church, there by the late 12th century, (fn. 38) occupies what may have been a green at
the eastern end of the settlement. Routes to the
north and south form a staggered crossroads at
the centre of the village. Many of the surviving
houses date from the 16th or the early 17th
century. The Great House, rebuilt by Sir Thomas Wroth and his tenant c. 1671, has been
altered but retains its 17th-century staircase and
other features. (fn. 39)

North Petherton village seems to have developed around the church which stands on
sloping ground above a stream. Land immediately west of the church which was settled before
the mid 11th century had become a cemetery by
1302, but in the 15th century it reverted to
domestic use. (fn. 40) The main street, north of the
church, was probably known as High Street in
the 17th century, (fn. 41) and later as Fore Street. It
was lined by several inns and perhaps contained
the shirehall (the use of which is unknown),
court house, and guildhall in the 14th century. (fn. 42)
The market place, possibly dating from the 14th
century, (fn. 43) may have been on the north side of
the church or further north-east between the
present Clare and Queen Streets. South-west of
the church is Hammet Street, perhaps in the
14th century Southbroke Street (fn. 44) and known as
Hammer or Hammel Street in the 17th century. (fn. 45) Until the 19th century building was
largely confined to those streets and a few
adjoining them, Queen Street (formerly Back
Street), Mill Street, the Newton road, High
Street, Cliff Road, and Pilot's Elm or Helm.
About 1821 the new Bridgwater road was built
to provide a straighter route through the village;
during the 19th century large suburban houses
were built along it and houses were built on
Tappers Lane west from Fore Street. (fn. 46)

In the 20th century houses were built north,
south, and east of the village and by the 1970s
the old orchards and gardens were largely obliterated. Most of the houses in the centre of the
village appear to date from the 18th and the 19th
century but a few have earlier features.

In the early 14th century there were two large
open arable fields on the west side of the parish
called Farringdon and Bulledones fields, (fn. 47) and
there was an open field at North Newton called
Brundon. (fn. 48) There were probably open fields
which have not been recorded around other
settlements. Landshares survived south of
North Petherton village until the 18th century,
small amounts of common arable at Woolmersdon in the late 18th century, (fn. 49) and strips north
of North Newton in 1838. Common meadows
lay near the moors at Broadmead and Chadmead
west of North moor, and at Pontage, Haygrove,
and Horlake east of it. (fn. 50) Several small meadows
at Woolmersdon were held in common until the
later 18th century. (fn. 51)

North Petherton 1841

There were four main areas of common pasture, North moor, Heathfield, King's Cliff, and
Stock moor, and smaller areas at South moor in
King's Sedgemoor, Lent moor in North Newton, (fn. 52) and Hurdown near Shearston. Stock moor
was shared between Woolmersdon and Hadworthy manors and Hamp in Bridgwater by the
mid 13th century, (fn. 53) and was probably inclosed
before the end of the 17th. (fn. 54) Heathfield was
gradually divided and inclosed in the 16th and
17th centuries, (fn. 55) and Hurdown by c. 1654. (fn. 56) The
remaining common pasture, nearly 1,500 a. and
mainly in North moor, was inclosed in 1798. (fn. 57)

Petherton park, probably a detached remnant
of the Saxon royal forest of Quantock, was held
from 1086 with that part of North Newton
which came to be known as Newton Forester
manor. (fn. 58) In Henry II's reign the forest jurisdiction was extended beyond the park to include
much of North Petherton parish and manors and
hamlets in Durston, Lyng, Creech St. Michael,
North Curry, and Stoke St. Gregory. The earlier
park or forest boundaries were re-established in
1298. (fn. 59) The boundaries of the park were marked
in the late 13th century by watercourses and later
by the Park brook on the east and south, by
Baymead on the west, and by Heathfield on the
north. (fn. 60) The park may have been walled in the
early 14th century (fn. 61) and was 4 miles in circumference. (fn. 62) Entrances were Fordgate, probably the
same as Highfordgate, Huntworth gate, English's gate, probably at North Newton, and
Heathfield gate. (fn. 63) The area was disafforested
and disparked in the 17th century. (fn. 64)

There was a park at Newton by 1339. (fn. 65) It was
probably divided with the manor (fn. 66) but later
belonged to Newton Wroth manor. It lay south
of North Newton church and had been divided
and let by 1671. (fn. 67) A park north-west of Huntworth village had been formed by the 1580s, a
mile in circumference. A small part of it remained parkland in the late 19th century. (fn. 68) A
park was created north of Maunsel House in the
early 19th century. (fn. 69)

There was a warren in Petherton park,
bounded on its southern side by Warren wall. (fn. 70)
Warrens were also formed at Melcombe and
Woolmersdon. (fn. 71)

In 1866-7 it was decided to establish a gas and
coal company in the parish, (fn. 72) but no gas supply
was provided and the street lighting recorded in
1896 appears to have been by gasolene lamps. (fn. 73)
The North Petherton Gas and Carbide Co.
produced acetylene gas between 1906 and 1931
for street and domestic lighting from October to
March in premises in Mill Street. Street lighting
was produced from dusk until 10 p.m. The spent
carbide was used by farmers as fertilizer. Coal
gas and electricity were supplied from Bridgwater from 1931. (fn. 74) A public library was opened
in North Petherton in 1984 and a community
centre west of the church c. 1988.

There were unlicensed alesellers in the parish
in the 14th century, and 22 people were
presented for breach of the assize of ale in 1349. (fn. 75)
There was a tippler in 1594, a tippler and an
innkeeper in 1619, (fn. 76) and an innholder in 1646. (fn. 77)
Three alehouses, at Tuckerton, Primmore, and
North moor, were suppressed in 1640 (fn. 78) but a
'multitude' still remained in 1647. (fn. 79) Between the
1650s and the early 18th century the number of
licensed premises fluctuated between three and
ten; (fn. 80) in 1686 they could between them provide
11 beds and stabling for 21 horses. (fn. 81) Among
them were the George, in Fore Street, first
named in 1619. (fn. 82) It was built in the early 17th
century and altered probably in the later 19th
century when an assembly room was added to
achieve hotel status. (fn. 83) Monthly petty sessions
were held there in the 19th century. (fn. 84) It was still
in business in 1984 but closed shortly afterwards. The White Horse was recorded in 1676 (fn. 85)
and the Anchor in 1699. (fn. 86) The Lion, mentioned
in 1711, (fn. 87) may be the White Lion which was
rebuilt before 1724 and was renamed the New
Inn. (fn. 88) About 1897 the name was changed to the
Clarence Hotel, (fn. 89) and c. 1978 to the Walnut
Tree. The 18th-century inn, opposite the parish
church in Fore Street, was extended in the
1930s (fn. 90) and again in the 1980s. The Nag's Head,
possibly earlier the White Horse, was probably
open in 1725. (fn. 91) It had closed by the later 18th
century but the name survived until the 1830s.
It stood in Fore Street west of the parish
church. (fn. 92) The Swan, at the east side of the
churchyard, was first recorded as an inn in 1727
although the building dates from the 17th century. (fn. 93) It had a fives court by 1838. (fn. 94) and an
assembly room by 1898. (fn. 95) It was still open in
1990. The Harp was open between 1765 and
1786 (fn. 96) and may be the same as the Ring of Bells,
Hammet Street, so named in 1840 and closed in
1924. (fn. 97) The Mitre, also in Hammet Street, had
opened by 1798 and closed c. 1909. (fn. 98)

During the 19th century a number of public
houses opened, including the Globe, still open
in High Street in 1990, the Bird in Hand in
Pound Street, the Royal Hotel in Back Lane, the
William IV, the Lamb in Fore Street, open in
1990, and the Mason's Arms in Hammet
Street. (fn. 99)

One or more inns at North Newton could
provide three beds and stabling for three horses
in 1686. (fn. 100) In 1688 there were three licensed
victuallers there, (fn. 101) one of them probably at the
Black Horse, recorded by name in 1711, and in
business until the 1780s. (fn. 102) The Royal Oak,
named in 1724, (fn. 103) was probably open between
1688 and 1779. (fn. 104) There were two unnamed
beerhouses in 1851 and 1872, (fn. 105) but there is no
later record of a public house in the village until
the Harvest Moon was opened in 1962. (fn. 106)

There was a licensed victualler at Moorland in
1746, probably at the Fleur de Luce recorded
from 1770 to 1786. (fn. 107) The Ferry Boat was open
between 1838 and 1861 but probably closed
shortly afterwards. (fn. 108) A second riverside house in
1851 may have been the later Thatcher's Arms,
so named in 1871 (fn. 109) and in business in 1990.

The Bell near Whitestock on the Taunton road
and the Compass inn on the Bridgwater road
were both open by 1851. (fn. 110) The Compass remained open in 1990. The Malt and Hops at
Somerset Bridge was opened before 1851 by
Samuel Fursland at his brick and tile works and
it remained open until 1937. (fn. 111) The Boat and
Anchor was in business by 1871 in a row of
bargemen's cottages near the canal between
Somerset Bridge and Huntworth. Extensions
and a skittle alley replaced most of the cottages,
and the inn remained open in 1990. (fn. 112) The Royal
Oak at Northmoor Corner, recorded from 1871,
was closed in 1924. (fn. 113) The Fordgate tavern, open
between 1871 and 1939, lay beside the railway
north of a street of houses occupied mainly by
railway workers. (fn. 114)

There was a friendly society in the 1790s which
had a membership of 122 men in 1796. (fn. 115) Later
known as the Old Blues, the club was still in
existence in 1837. (fn. 116) In 1836 a new society was
formed at the George inn by the vicar, James
Toogood, and was known as the North Petherton friendly society. (fn. 117) In 1837 it was presented
with a banner and had 74 members. Later in the
century there were two clubs besides the Old
Blues, known as the Tradesmen's and the
Gentlemen's. (fn. 118) A penny club was founded in the
1830s to provide blankets for the poor. (fn. 119) A book
club had been established by 1837 (fn. 120) and a reading room was open between 1861 and 1894. (fn. 121)
The North Petherton carnival, held since 1950,
attracts many visitors. (fn. 122)

There were 811 communicants in North
Petherton in 1547 (fn. 123) and 236 households in the
parish in 1563 including 13 at North Newton. (fn. 124)
In 1667 nearly 320 people were recorded in
North Newton tithing, which extended outside
the parish. (fn. 125) The population of the parish was
2,346 in 1801 rising to 3,091 in 1821 and to 3,566
in 1831. Numbers reached a peak of 3,985 in
1871, falling gradually to 3,534 in 1901 and 3,179
in 1931. In 1933 the population of St. Michaelchurch and part of Bridgwater Without was
added. (fn. 126) In 1981 there were 4,883 people in the
civil parish. (fn. 127)

The poet Geoffrey Chaucer (d. 1400) was
forester of Petherton park from 1391. (fn. 128) Tobias
Venner, M.D. (1577-1660), who practised at
North Petherton and, in the season, at Bath, was
author of several medical works in the 1620s
including an attack on tobacco and a book on the
baths at Bath dedicated to Sir Francis Bacon. (fn. 129)

A skirmish between a royalist supply convoy
and a parliamentary force took place in North
Petherton in August 1644. (fn. 130)